DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73713#0118
113
THE WORKS OF
baked earth: but I do not with to amuse my-
self in examining these facts of so great antiqui-
ty, in the knowledge of which, writers are so
divided, and confused; and this must necessarily
have happened from having all pretended to make
the history os the arts exa&, with the preoccu-
pation of their having been invented in one only
place, and by one only nation; which does not
appear true, because man being the same in all
places, and having the same necessities, passions,
and caprices, of course in all times and coun-
tries he had thought, and still thinks, in the
same manner, and had invented the same
things.
Before! proceed I shall explain the word Art.
I believe it is nothing more than the manner of
producing any work with determinate means,
and with a determinate end. The end of the
Fine Arts is to delight by way of imitation, and
the means are to order the imitative things in a
manner that in the imitation they may have more
order and clearness than the things themselves;
which produces beauty, and therefore the arts
which have this object are called the Fine
Arts. Beauty in particular, is no more than
a style of being in things, which by most sim-
ple means gives us a clear idea of their good
and essential qualities. Many are of an opini-
on that among the fine arts sculpture is the
molt ancient, because it is that whicli most lim-
ply imitates the figure of things. It was inven-
ted at disserent times and places, but it appears
they began to introduce it by way of worship,
THE WORKS OF
baked earth: but I do not with to amuse my-
self in examining these facts of so great antiqui-
ty, in the knowledge of which, writers are so
divided, and confused; and this must necessarily
have happened from having all pretended to make
the history os the arts exa&, with the preoccu-
pation of their having been invented in one only
place, and by one only nation; which does not
appear true, because man being the same in all
places, and having the same necessities, passions,
and caprices, of course in all times and coun-
tries he had thought, and still thinks, in the
same manner, and had invented the same
things.
Before! proceed I shall explain the word Art.
I believe it is nothing more than the manner of
producing any work with determinate means,
and with a determinate end. The end of the
Fine Arts is to delight by way of imitation, and
the means are to order the imitative things in a
manner that in the imitation they may have more
order and clearness than the things themselves;
which produces beauty, and therefore the arts
which have this object are called the Fine
Arts. Beauty in particular, is no more than
a style of being in things, which by most sim-
ple means gives us a clear idea of their good
and essential qualities. Many are of an opini-
on that among the fine arts sculpture is the
molt ancient, because it is that whicli most lim-
ply imitates the figure of things. It was inven-
ted at disserent times and places, but it appears
they began to introduce it by way of worship,